COMUNICATO STAMPA - PRESS COMMUNICATION
Risulta un’esplosione di grande entità, seguita da una nube di 120 km, visibile per almeno 26 ore. L’evento sarebbe avvenuto il 9 dicembre tra le 8.00 e le 21.00 nel Southern Greenland Icecap. A supporto della notizia vi sono testimonianze oculari, registrazioni sismiche, ed immagini registrate dal satellite NOAA 14 e da satelliti meteorologici. Il vapore corrisponde a 5 miliardi di tonnellate di ghiaccio vaporizzato, il che comporterebbe, se causato da un impatto meteoritico, che un oggetto di 4 milioni di tonnellate abbia impattato a lat. 63 N, long. 45 W (Qaqortoq, Groenlandia). L’evento sarebbe comparabile a quello del Giugno 1908 a Tunguska. Il Dr. Holger Pedersen (holger@astro.ku.dk) dell’Università di Copenhagen, tel. (45) 3532.5980, http://www.astro.ku.dk/~holger/ non ha la certezza che l’evento sia imputabile ad un impatto, ma una ricerca del luogo di origine è stata organizzata. Le possibilità terrestri comprendono un vulcano glaciale, sconosciuto in quella locazione, o una gigantesca esplosione di carburante. Sempre secondo il Dr. Pedersen, come si legge nel suo sito web, la notizia riguardante l’evento sarebbe stata fino ad oggi nascosta. Per quale motivo?
Non possiamo ovviamente testimoniare sulla veridicità della notizia, nè possediamo strutture informative per proseguire l’indagine, ci sembra però che la cosa sia meritevole di approfondimento da parte dei media.
Riportiamo il messaggio così come l’abbiamo ricevuto da Michael Martin Smith, presidente di Space Age Associates (UK):
“Reports of a large explosion with a 120 kms cloud, visible for at least 26 hours, are coming in, as a result of an event on Dec 9 at 8-21 UT on the Southern Greenland Icecap. This has been reported as eyewitness accounts of the flash, seismic recordings, and NOAA satellite14 plus weather satellite images. The steam corresponds to 5 billion tons of vapourized ice, requiring, if caused by a meteorite impact, a 4 million ton body, impacting at 63 N lat., 45 W Long.( Qaqortoq, Greenland). This would compare with the June 1908 Tunguska event. Dr Holger Pedersen, ( holger@astro.ku.dk) of Copenhagen University,tel (45)3532 5980 http://www.astro.ku.dk/~holger/ is not yet certain that this has been due to an impact, but a search for the site of origin is being organized. terrestrial possibilities include a sub glacier volcano (none known at this location , or a fuel explosion ( massive!!) Watch this space!
Michael Martin-Smith "
Adriano Autino
Riceviamo, da Holger Pedersen, via Michael Martin Smith, la seguente comunicazione, secondo la quale il governo danese e quello della Groenlandia starebbero preparando due voli per verificare in loco l'accaduto:
"Sir,
According to Danish text tv (which you may monitor on the web), the fall will be searched for today, using two flights from official Danish/Greenlandic institutions.
Due to intense activity I cannot provide more detail.
Regards Holger Pedersen
"
Il sito di Pedersen riporta inoltre quanto segue:
"1997 December 15: Viewers of the video footage (shown repeatedly on Danish TV) should know that it was recorded and plays in 'real' time. Visual sightings mostly mention a maximum brightness as full daylight, or brighter. Duration 2 to 5 seconds. The angular velocity was high when the object disappeared behind local horizons. Some report a subsequent flash, illuminating the sky. Further remote sensing data are solicited (radar, infrasound, seismic, radio propagation disturbance, spaceborne IR/visible, etc.). Also three airplane crews should have observed the extremely bright event near 08 hours 11 minutes ZULU (UT). All may help improve localization (current uncertainty 25 km)."
Arthur Woods, della OURS Foundation (CH), riporta da fonte AIAA quanto segue (le informazioni si susseguono, e non abbiamo il tempo di tradurre i messaggi in italiano):
Hi, I am sending along a couple of messages I received today. Interesting - to say the least.
Message 1:
Here is the message from Ron Baalke, a frequent announcer of JPL related news:
“It appears that an enormous meteorite has fallen over the southern part of the Greenland Ice cap. The event was witnessed by people on the west coast of Greenland, and by fishermen off shore. Further records come from seismic data, weather satellites, and a video camera at Nuuk. The event occurred on December 9, at 08:21 UTC. At this moment, local solar time was 05:21 A.M. According to reports, the sky was clear. SEISMIC DATA - Seismic records show a very special event. It lasts more than 10 seconds, indicating a time extended source. It is a high-frequency event, reminiscent of the Lunar meteorite seismic records made by the Apollo missions. This makes phase correlation, hence localization, difficult, but initial indication is that the event occurred in Greenland.
VIDEO - A parking lot video surveillence camera in Nuuk, capital of Greenland (64 North, 51 West), recorded an extremely bright flash of light from a moving source. One the footage shown on Danish TV, the event lasted about 2 seconds. However, the time compression factor was not reported.
WEATHER SATELLITE IMAGING - At least two weather satellites show the dramatic development of a cloud system near 63 degrees North 45 degrees West. The clearest images can be obtained from a polar orbiting satellite monitored at the Dundee Satellite Receiving station. One set of multicolor images show a dark cloud 120 km across, on December 9 14:24 UTC Channel 3 The cloud is still visible 26 hours later, at which moment one can see a 100 km long dark line on the Ice Cap, marking the western edge of the cloud. The line points some 10 degrees West of North, which we interpret as the arrival direction of the meteoroid. The cloud height has been estimated by the Tycho Brahe Planetarium to be 6 - 8 km (based on the shadow cast). The enclosed volume of air is thus at least 50,000 cubic km. If the moist air contains 0.1 gram of water per litre derived either from the meteoroid or from evaporating ice, this amounts to 5 billion tons. The minimum meteorite mass required to melt and evaporate this amount of water is 4 million tons, if the velocity of the impactor was 70 km per second.
SEARCH PARTY - According to Danish TV (DR1 and TV2 text-tv), a search mission is being planned by the ice service at Narssaq.
THE NAME - Old tradition dictates that a fall is named from the closest postal office.This is Qaqortoq, at the south tip of Greenland. The city was formerly called Julianehaab. The above report was compiled using data supplied by Morten Bo Madsen, Anja Andersen, Torben Risbo, and Lars Lindberg Christensen. For further information, call or write: Holger Pedersen NBIfAFG Copenhagen University Observatory Juliane Maries Vej 30 DK-2100 Copenhagen OE DenmarkThere you have it, folks, I'll be searching for more data, it could all be lies, but we just might have had a meteor crater sized event!”
A later post remarks: “Danish news and TV are apparently downplaying the story now, saying that the cloud plume seen in the NOAA-14 (14:24) image is of "terrestrial" origin.
Message 2. “I've learned a bit more, a Dutch astronomical society site has a banner headline 'No impact on Greenland, and gives an interpetation of the cloud images: " The cloud seen on the NOAA imagery is, according to Jacob Kuiper, in fact a large lenticularis cloud the occurence of which is not uncommon in that area." yet the site contains the following account: "Two days ago the Danish news channels had reports of a giant flash seen by many people along 2000km of Greenland's west coast early on December 9th.. A video from an outdoor surveillance camera was also shown on TV. Based on interviews with several observers it was concluded that the meteorite probably was lost in the sea.
Message 3. “All, The satellite images that Don refers to in his posting can be found at http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk You can set up an account (free) at this URL which will allow access to the relevant images in which the development of the `plume' can be followed. The visible light images are OK, but rapid changes are best viewed in the infra-red (channel 4) bands. Compare these to images of last years Iclandic sub-glacial eruption, available at the same URL” Clearly, something interesting has happened in Greenland.
Best regards - keep your heads up and eyes open!!
Arthur Woods
David Morrison, uno dei leader mondiali della ricerca nel campo dei meteoriti, dichiara quanto segue:
"Dear Friends and Students of NEOs: The big Greenland meteorite explosion of December 9 1997 has now apparently vanished, just as did the Honduran impact of November 22 1996 and the El Paso bolide of October 9 1997. Latest reports are that the large cloud and other remote sensing data from Greenland are unrelated to the bright meteor that was widely seen. So once more we have a bright meteor, lots of media attention, and false associations. Perhaps I shouldn't bother to send out such rumors before they are confirmed, but we always hope for something substantive. Meanwhile, I continue to be interested to see how much media attention, and even public alarm, accompany really bright meteors or bolides.
David Morrison"
This from one of the world's leaders in this field. Fireball and cloud appear to have two different origins? The lenticular cloud does not explain the flash seen by fishermen and captured on the Nuuk carpark video, nor does it explain the seismic readings mentioned. It seems we have a nice little mystery here. If the object was lost at sea or hit shallow ice, it could remain enigmatic for a while yet!
Michael Martin-Smith
Nessun media, almeno in Italia, sembra essersi accorto dell'evento, eppure vi sono le registrazioni delle telecamere, quelle dei sismografi, le fotografie satellitari e le testimonianze oculari. Non e' successo nulla? Se l'evento doveva produrre effetti collaterali si sarebbero manifestati ormai, ad una settimana di distanza? Non è neppure detto: ad esempio le eruzioni del Pinatubo, fenomeno di enormi proporzioni, così rilevante per l'ecosistema planetario, non sono state evidenti a latitudini diverse. E se, come rileva Morrison, vi sono stati altri impatti, anche recenti, pressochè ignorati dai media, qual'è la ragione di questo disinteresse? Non si vuole riconoscere che siamo pressochè indifesi rispetto al bombardamento dallo spazio? E se qualcuno di questi bolidi cadesse su una zona densamente popolata?
Non credo ad ipotesi di supercomplotti: bisognerebbe pensare che le autorità mondiali sono talmente convinte assertrici di un'ecologia terrestre chiusa, da chiudere gli occhi, e nascondere la testa come lo struzzo, davanti alle palesi manifestazioni dell'ecologia cosmica.
Ringraziamo invece i siti di Gnomiz e dell'Editore Simonelli, che hanno prontamente creato un ponte ipertestuale con questa pagina, per informare i loro utenti in tempo reale, sullo svolgersi delle notizie.
Adriano Autino
No media, at least in Italy, seems to notice the event, but the video recordings exist, and so the seismic readings, the satellites photograps and the eyewitnesses. Nothing happened? If the event was to produce collateral effects, would these effects be nowaday visible, after one week? It is not sure: for instance the Pinatubo volcan eructions, a phenomena of enormous size, such relevant for the planetary ecosystem, was not so self-evident at different latitudes. And if, as Morrison points out, other impacts, even recent, were almost ignored by the media, what is the reason of such indifference? Do we not want to recognize that we are almost undefended against the bombardments form space? And if some of these bolides will fall on a populated area? I don't believe to hypothesis of super-conspiracies: it would mean that the world's authorities are so convinct defenders of a terrestrial closed ecology that they close the eyes face of the evident demonstrations of the cosmic ecology.
Our thanks to the sites of Gnomiz and Simonelli, which were ready to set an hypertext link with this page, in order to inform their users in real time.
Adriano Autino
Riceviamo, da Holger Pedersen, il seguente messaggio:
... it was cloudy over Greenland, yesterday, so no chance.
/Holger Pedersen
in risposta alla nostra domanda:
Dear Dr. Pedersen,
Do you have some further information on the Greenland event? What about the danish TV reportage?
Thanks, Adriano Autino
Riceviamo da Arthur Woods (OURS Foundation, CH) il seguente messaggio, riguardante un comunicato stampa della Niels Bohr Institute, Geophysical Dept.:
Press statement
by
Niels Bohr Institute, Geophysical Dept. 971215 20.00UT
A big meteor impact has probably occurred in Southern Greenland at 61 25N, 44 26W on Tuesday, December 9th app. 08.11UTC (05.11am local time). The position is on the ice cap app. 50 kilometers NE of Narsarsuaq Airport.
The position has been determined on the basis of observations made by a Danish and a Norwegian trawler near the east coast of Greenland, and a Danish trawler at a position in the bay off Julianehaab. Based on fairly accurate direction findings and the fact, that the trawlers were situated on both sides of Southern Greenland it can be determined, that the meteorite fell on land.
The relevant trawlers are:
- Halten Trawl, Norwegian at 62 05N, 41 10W
- Regina C, Danish at 60 55N, 51 35W
- Timmarut, Danish at 60 13N, 46 43W
Observations of the satelite lighttrack from Nuuk indicates that the meteorite passed a bit south of Nuuk in southeasterly direction towards the mentioned impact site in Southern Greenland.
Seismic disturbances have been observed on Svalbard and Finmarka (Norway). These tremors are observed at 08.21UTC and 08.23UTC and are assumed to relate to the impact or the passage of the meteorite through the atmosphere. The signals did not allow a seismic localization of the event. The observations are made by NORSAR (Norwegian Seismic Array), Kjeller, Norway. Fainter signals were observed in Finland and Germany. The seismic stations in Greenland (Sonder Stromfjord and Danmarkshavn) has no observations. Further seismic data will be collected from Iceland and Canada in order to confirm the visual localization.
Observations from the satellites ERS1 and ERS2 are being planned. These satellites observe the surface of the Earth using radar.
The flashes observed in conjunction with the meteorite were so bright as to turn night into daylight at a distance of 100 kilometers and can be compared to the light af a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere. However, we stress that there is no reason to belive other than natural causes.
During the day, the position will be overflown by an ice reconnaissance plane, from the Ice Central in Narsarsuaq on its planned flight from Kap Farvel to Nuuk.
The event can in size probably be compared to the Kap York meteorite, that in prehistoric time fell in Melville Bay, Sassivik south of Thule. Findings from the meteorite consist of a number of iron meteorites totalling 50 tons. One of these ironfragments can be seen in Copenhagen outside the Geological Museum.
Collecting and studying material from this meteorite has great scientific value. It is fortunate that the meteorite fell on land, but a search on the ice cap is difficult and in winter impeded by bad weather and darkness. Since December 9th 30-100cm of snow has fallen in the area and before summer smaller fragments will be covered by 3 meters of snow. According to Danish law, findings of meteorite material must be turned over to the authorities, in this case they will be the property of the Greenland Home Rule.
These investigations are coordinated by Geophysical Dept. at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen in cooperation with:
- Tycho Brahe Planetarium, Copenhagen.
- Copenhagen Astronomical Society
- National Survey and Cadastre, Denmark
- NORSAR, Kjeller, Norway
- Danish Center for Remote Sensing, Technical University of Denmark
The information may be qouted, if the source is indicated."
Another report mentions that the air pressure wave from the blast was recorded in Scandinavia. The video tape mentioned earlier was a downward aimed surveillence camera which for 3 seconds shows what is described as the sudden illumination by a moving light source, with a reflection of the bolide visible on a nearby car.
Arthur Woods
Abbiamo ricevuto il comunicato stampa del Niels Bohr Institute anche dall'Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna.
14.01.98 - Meteorite in Groenlandia: l’indagine prosegue
Desidero intanto scusarmi per il lungo black-out del provider Canavese On Line, che ha reso inaccessibile il sito di Tecnologie di Frontiera per quasi un mese. Ringrazio Luciano Simonelli e Luigi Granetto, che sui loro siti hanno fornito l’informazione sull’evento, in questo periodo. Tecnologie di Frontiera e’ dinuovo ONLINE dal 15 gennaio.
Dalla pagina del Dr.T.Risbo, del Dipartimento Geofisico dell’Università di Niels Bohr di Copenhagen, coordinatore della Ricerca Greenland Meteorite Search, e da altri siti che riportano notizie inerenti, abbiamo ricavato la seguente sintesi dello stato attuale della conoscenza sull’evento del 9 dicembre 1997.
L’ipotesi più accreditata, dalle numerose istituzioni scientifiche che stanno indagando sull’evento, rimane quella dell’impatto meteoritico, anche se non si possono ancora escludere, in linea di principio, altre ipotesi. La posizione più probabile del luogo dell’impatto/esplosione è stimata sul pack groenlandese vicino a Frederikshaab Isblink, sulla costa occidentale, tra Fiskenaesset e Frederikshaab (Pamiut).
Onde d’urto sonore e scosse sismiche sono state riportate a Fiskenaesset, 110 km a sud di Nuuk. Tali eventi sono stati seguiti, con alcuni minuti di ritardo, da ventate improvvise di breve durata, in un contesto atmosferico altrimenti tranquillo.
Una missione ricognitiva aerea congiunta, tra la Royal Danish Air Force, il Danish Center for Remote Sensing (DCRS) e la Technical University of Denmark è stata effettuata il 4 di gennaio, sulla zona indicata. Un’area di 10.000 kmq è stata coperta per mezzo di 6 rotte aeree, più 2 altre rotte, per coprire la Frederikshaab Isblink. Poichè la superficie esaminata è topograficamente accidentata, l’dentificazione di un impatto può risultare molto difficoltosa. L’elaborazione dei dati raccolti è in corso presso il DCRS, e si prevede che tale attività possa richiedere da 3 a 4 settimane.
Una trentina di rapporti di osservazioni visive sono stati ottenuti tramite interviste telefoniche di autorità, abitanti della Groenlandia e motopescherecci che si trovavano ad incrociare nelle acque groenlandesi. Molte delle osservazioni visive non aggiungono testimonianze significative, tuttavia confermano il quadro generale. Gli equipaggi di due motopescherecci hanno rilasciato informazioni accurate ed affidabili.
La magnitudine del lampo luminoso è cautamente stimata intorno ad m=-21, in base all’avvistamento dei motopescherecci a 400 km di distanza. Questo indica un effetto luminoso comparabile a quello di un’esplosione nucleare nell’atmosfera. Il proprietario della telecamera di Nuuk sostiene che il lampo è stato comparabile alla luce del giorno (m=-26), visto da Nuuk, ad una distanza di 150 Km. Confrontando questi dati con dati satellitari di osservazione di eventi meteoritici in atmosfera, si stima che il lampo è stato di intensità pari a quello provocato da un’esplosione nucleare di 10 Kton.
Dati quotidianamente aggiornati sul meteorite in Groenlandia si possono trovare, oltre che sui siti web già citati, sul sito: http://www.dcrs.dtu.dk/.
Adriano Autino
